Sunday, July 9, 2017

The Queen of the Journey


It started raining heavily. We had not seen much of rain the whole day, although the sound of rain falling on the ghats was always there with us. The climb was easy and peaceful because of soothing cool climate and breeze. Sitting there at twilight, in the verandah, I looked outside at the S.T. bus that was parked in front, she was getting soaked by the rainwater gushing over her windows, making her seats look ghastly. She was the Queen of the Journey. She is the only one who comes there at night, stays in that nature’s bliss of a village near the end of the mighty Deccan Plateau. Saying her Goodbye and requesting her to wait for us for the next day to take us to the The Big City, we went to sleep. 

 

In the morning her Driver ignited her engine. Humm humm hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……. He warmed it up for the ride ahead. The sun was not up when she carried us away from  the village. The road in the nature’s bliss, wound up from between the mountains to reach a tragedy called “Lavasa”, where nature is cut into numerous slices from a huge piece of cake. It seemed to me like more of a “Station” and less of “Hill” 
Anyways this Queen of my journey broke down on the path 10 kms away from the Station on the Hills. The driver walked up the road to find network for their phone, to call for help. There is no other mode of commercial  transport on this part of road upto Panshet. The conductor gave me a piece of Ticket Report from his Ticket Printer  and suggested us to go to Lavasa to find another ST to Pune in case we get a lift to Lavasa City. The conductor went to check out the driver while I waited for someone who would take us there. I didn’t wish to go. I hoped that I would not find any transport, and stay with the Queen of the Journey to see what happens to her next. Then the conductor came and said that the Depo is sending one backup S.T. They both were going to stay in the near by village, with the broken down bus until breakdown vehicle or their mechanic arrives. He said that it might take the whole day. He also said how once one of the buses and its conductor were both stranded in one of the other villages on the edge of the plateau because of a landslide. He said that they can’t leave the vehicle until solution arrives. 
The backup ST arrived in about one hour. We hopped in it and the ride started and soon we were dropped into the Big City.

Now as I write this the hummmm hummmm sound of the Queen of the Journey still vibrates in my ear. As I close my eyes, I see her standing there in twilight in the remote village in midst of the nature’s bliss, which had been void of electricity for last 15 days, where talk with my fellow travellers had coloured in one corner of the verandah while our Host spoke to his neighbors about progress of work in their farmlands in the other corner. I hope that she has been repaired by now, for her next journey to some other remote place, where there is no one but her.